A PLEA FOR THE SHIVAJI MAHARAJ MUSEUM OF (TRUE) INDIAN HISTORY, PUNE

I am a French journalist, correspondent for ten years of the largest French Daily, Le Figaro and the author of a dozen History books on India (latest: A History of India As It Happened, Har Anand, New Delhi). I was witness of the exodus of 3 lakhs Hindus from the valley of Kashmir & it so touched me that I mounted an exhibition on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, which was opened in 2005 in Delhi’s Habitat Center by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Followed a series of exhibitions on the Bangladesh minorities, Aurangzeb as he was according to his own records, Maharana Pratap, Ahiliyabai, etc.

At some point, we had so many exhibitions that the idea came to build a Museum of true Indian History. Sri Sri gave us five acres of land near the Pune airport and the project started in 2013. I have a great admiration for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, as he is the Napoleon of India, an incredible man, who with a few hundred men and his wits only, stood his ground against the then most powerful army in the world, that of Aurangzeb. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was much more than a warrior: he made laws, built the first Indian navy, was a staunch Hindu, yet donated to Sufi shrines and never harmed the wives and children of his enemies and had a vision of a unified India. Yet, his place in Indian history books is minimal and underrated. Thus we have chosen to honor him in this Museum.

Today we have eight Pavilions, each with a unique permanent exhibition, a Bharat Mata temple dedicated to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and a video room. The Museum is open from 9 to 6PM and entrance is free. I am in the process of erecting three new buildings, one for a Portuguese Inquisition exhibition, another for one on Tippu Sultan and one which will have a room with flat TV screens only, each one playing on a loop films, PPT’s, etc.

This is a sewa project as both my wife Namrita and myself continue with our respective jobs, she as a textile designer and myself as a journalist and writer. Thus we depend entirely on donations to move forward. We have a registered trust, FACT (Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism), which has FCRA, as well as Indian, US & UK tax exemption.

We would like to take the Museum to the next level and our architect, Sheetal Harpale of Pune, has designed a wonderful building in the shape of a swastika, which will cost about seven crores to make and would be on par with any Museum in the world. Thus we appeal to your generosity – this is a unique project, but extremely diffcult, as History has remained a taboo subject in India, though it has been distorted first by the British and then by Marxist historians for their own purpose.
Corporates are wary of donating to a Museum of Indian History, as they are used to give to health and education, needed areas no doubt, but as Sri Sri said, “no nation can move forward, unless it faces its own history squarely”.

6 responses to “A PLEA FOR THE SHIVAJI MAHARAJ MUSEUM OF (TRUE) INDIAN HISTORY, PUNE”

Kindly do not compare Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Napoleon Bonaparte because Napoleon is not worthy to stand next to a true heroic personality like Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Maharaj. Also Bharatvarsha is not required to face it’s History, rather the western world needs to face it’s true history and return what was stolen and looted from Bharatvarsha.
Regards

Buddy I admire your work a lot as being a foreign national understands a true history of India which was a long way back touted by Macauley and the invaders of Central Asia Muslims who burned our Nalanda and Takshashila Universities as Harvard and Oxford of that time.
These people were not only the invaders but we’re barbaric evils who wanted to convert whole of India to Islam or kill the infidels according to them, they were merely the murdered and looters who were the real cannibals or say Vampires of medieval period who only were blood thirsty.

If anybody today in defence of Islam say that how can India be still a majority Hindu country if the Muslim invaders were so cruel then I would like to answer “we never gave up in the phase of distress, cruelty and heinous crimes committed against humanity instead of that we fought and fought hard and made these evils life hell in this country as in entire 1000 years of Islamic invasions one or other brave Hindu king stood up to the occasion and given a be fitted reply to these battery’s on their language ex Maharaja Pratap, Shivaji, Bajirao Pasha, Bappa Rawal, Raja Suheldev, Prithaviraj Chauhan and other numerous Hindu warriors”

If we are still in existence in this world as an ancient religion then it is not by mercy of others but by our brave and courageous attitude towards foreign conquerors.

Personally Francois I want you to study the real history of Raja Suheldev who is a lost hero of India, a hero who not only killed a cruel invader Sallar Gazi nephew of Mehamud Gazanvi but killed all the invading army soldiers till last men with handful of Army on his side in battle UP India in near 1033AD.